- US rapper Azealia Banks is demanding Elon Musk return her phone in a series of cryptic Instagram post.
- In one now-deleted Instagram Story, Banks claimed Musk’s attorney was in possession of her phone and is deleting evidence following an encounter at the Tesla CEO’s home earlier this month.
- Musk denied that he or his lawyers have Banks’ phone.
- “It’s a f—ing mess,” Banks told Business Insider when asked for further comment. “I want my phone and I want to go home.”
- Banks also pointed BI to the fact that Musk has apparently deleted his Instagram account.
It’s the bizarre Tesla subplot that just won’t die.
Rapper Azealia Banks is posting cryptic messages about Tesla CEO Elon Musk on her Instagram account, demanding in a series of updates that the billionaire returns her phone. She also threatened to call the police.
“It’s a f—ing mess I want my phone and I want to go home,” Banks told Business Insider when asked for further details via Instagram DM late Monday evening.
“I’m like in tears right now,” she added. “This has nothing to do with me.”
It's a development on Banks' claims last week that she spent a weekend at Musk's Los Angeles home earlier this month to collaborate with his girlfriend, the musician Grimes. During Banks' stay, she says she overheard Musk on the phone "scrounging for investors to cover his ass" for saying he had secured funding to take Telsa private. Banks relayed the experience to Business Insider's Kate Taylor.
A representative for Musk initially said he had never met Banks. But then he told the New York Times that he did spot the rapper at his home "as she was leaving." He said Banks was not in "hearing range" and he did not recognize her.
Banks' cryptic messages about her phone
Now Banks is claiming that Musk has her phone. She tagged him in two posts, one asking Musk to contact her, and the other saying: "I need my phone back now."
The posts alone do not explain why Musk has her handset, but a now-deleted update casts more light on her side of the story. The message, screenshotted by Cheddar anchor Hope King below, claims that Musk's attorney has Banks' phone and is deleting evidence.
You up?
Latest from Ms. Banks pic.twitter.com/PA92P8h512
— Hope King (@hopeking) August 21, 2018
A spokesman for Musk said: "Elon doesn't know Azealia Banks. He doesn't have her phone and neither do his lawyers."
Banks additionally drew another Business Insider reporter's attention to the fact that Musk had apparently deleted his Instagram account. "I wonder why he deleted his account," she said. "Very strange."
Banks also expressed her distaste for journalists. "I generally think journalists are parasitic," she said, adding that she could "never imagine salivating the way you do" over stories. She then went on to ask Business Insider to write about her cosmetics range.